Alarms and other indicators have been developed to alert anglers of a possible bite while fishing. One type uses a pair of contacts which are biased towards one another, the contacts being separated by a segment of the fishing line. When the line is pulled free, hopefully by a fish biting the bait, the contacts come together to initiate an alarm. See, for example, U.S. Pat. No. 3,702,513 to Watts.
When the contact elements are conductive, the possibility of false alarms arises. When the fishing line is wet. Water on the line may bridge the contacts and provide a low resistance path to complete the alarm circuit and create a false alarm.